Daniel's Time Capsule

 When Daniel was in 8th grade at Valley School of Ligonier one of the activities was to do a "Time Capsule" which was his interpretation of the driving forces behind who he was as well as the reflections that he had of himself.  It was a thought provoking exercise and one that the kids would be sent when they were seniors in high school.  The parental involvement was for a latter to be written by a parent/parents that would share our hearts for their hopes/future/character etc.  Daniel's arrived today.  I wrote this from my perspective then...and clearly from my perspective always.

What an honor to speak life over your kids and see the faithfulness of God.

 It typically doesn't turn out the way we think...or even on the track we see at the time, but it always turns out as it is supposed to as we trust Him with our kids and their futures. While the road isn't paved, it is rocky and filled with holes we couldn't see, but what we can see is God weaving it together for a beautiful tapestry that enables us to be useful and purposeful and living life with passion and commitment to what matters most and exactly for the purposes we have been created for.

The LORD said to me, "You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled." ~Jeremiah 1:12

Christmas Morning 2015. Amazed By The Love Of God

This Christmas was special at our house. My husband has had something on his heart for awhile to do with the kids. We planned to Skype Daniel in from Hawaii and instead he was here due to unforeseen circumstances which enabled him to participate in a very significant way...definitely best in the flesh. Danny reminded the kids of God's 3 main promises over our lives and how all of our adversity has rooted us in them. He read them from God's word...it was an incredible reminder of God's faithfulness. It was the perfect transition to what came next and Danny went from kid to kid and asked what they saw in the past year from their own perspective and what they were learning about themselves and where they were grateful to God and what was on their hearts for the future. It was amazing to see each kid so specific and dialed in to themselves. It was riveting and as a parent who has not had an easy time of any aspect of my parenting this tribe of 5 I am one blessed Mom. God's promises are so real...trusting Him when things are bigger and badder than you can understand is an opportunity to see Him be Who He wants to be for us all. Danny reminded the kids that they will each do better than him in this life...and life isn't about making a living but making a difference....and God has chosen them for even more than what He is called to. Speaking life, giving thanks, acknowledging the power of God to redirect and overcome our obstacles is where and how we learn to live in faith. My kids are blessed to have a dad that lives it, knows it and can share it from humility and gratitude and I am blessed to be his helpmate, best friend and have him as the lover of my soul on this journey we call life. Merry Christmas everyone...may you all connect with our Savior and His plan for your life in the same way...He wants all we have to give Him...and when giving our all, we experience LIFE...the very essence of it given through Jesus to us...the reason He came from heaven.

Spilling From The Soul, The Heart Releases

Olivia graduated this year.  What God has allowed me the privilege of participating in for His plan for her life has humbled me in more ways than I could ever desire, understand or achieve without His mercy, grace and favor.  It was so important to me on this day to share with her what has forever been in my heart since that day she and her twin brother walked through my front door.  It was December 31, 2003.  I was ill-prepared, ill-equipped, and just sick myself from the pain of my loss...as well as my gain.  This is what I had printed on parchment paper and included with her gift:  her Mom's Rolex watch that has been in a safety deposit box for nearly 12 years.  That afternoon, wrapping and praying and praying and wrapping...and crying over Lisa was yet another day I will always remember in my closet as one that God gave me to continue to heal as well as become prepared for that most challenging season of our lives beginning to transition.  The joy and the pain exist in this life simultaneously. I am so thankful God chose ME to honor Him...and of course to honor the love I will always have for her mom.  She was my best friend in every way.  I have never trusted anyone or felt myself more than when we were together.  Abrupt and devastating loss is something that cannot be quantified, but over time, perspective that comes through our growth in our pain makes our faith more understood and our God more real.  

  

Grafted in...a love like no other....

The next chapter in her life as well as my own is beginning...and if there was ever one thing I repeatedly asked God for with hope in His hand of assurance within, it is that when she left our home, she would be prepared in her faith, in her convictions and in her aspirations for seeking His best as her journey continues as a woman.  I can honestly say, this has been accomplished and my gratitude runs as deep as my soul.

The "RESILIENCE" Award goes to....

What Your Mom May Have Said To You Today:

If Lisa were here this day, I believe among the things she would say:

How proud of You I am…what You have experienced in your life I can whisper in your ear always, “I am so sorry.”  “I miss You so much.”  “I will always love You.”  “I will see You again one day.”  “We will never be apart again.”  “There will not be another tear shed  from that day on.”

I believe she knows exactly your whereabouts and the condition of your heart.

I believe her trust is in God’s best for You…just as it is for me.

I believe she is at peace with who you are and who you continue to become…just as I am. 

I believe she is aware of the quality of your character and the desires of your heart…just as I believe I am for the things that matter the most.

I believe she would want You to have this gift as an anticipated reminder of the time from then until when You meet again…just as I do ☺

Happy Graduation Olivia…You are a jewel in my crown…and one I could NEVER have earned without the grace, love and mercy of God who chose me for such an incredible purpose and your mom who believed in me always.  The emotion and conviction I have and have always lived by is rooted in my love for her and my faith in Him as well as hope for who I knew I was capable of becoming because “He first loved me.” ~1 John 4:19

I am so excited to watch and see where He leads You as you trust Him…don’t ever think SMALL!!

You know this verse well and I hope when You think of the life You have lived as a person as well as the one we have lived as a family, this one comes to your heart and mind before all others:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ~Romans 8:28

I love you!

 

My heartfelt hope....

Is There Really A Need To Be Heard…Or Are God's Ears Where We Find Understanding And Purpose For Our Lives?

I have been completely invested in healing…I understand that what I am naturally is not is able to stuff injustice.  I loathe it. It frustrates me, angers me, inspires me and directs me.  In the past few years since I have been seeking my own healing from "injustice" I have learned a few things:  first and most important: whatever it is that causes us unrighteous pain God is already planning our "escape."  He is at work behind the scenes and His greatest concern is our growth for His purposes.  Of course He also wants us to be whole/healed and ready for all He has for us and therefore "there is no way to but through" which is something I have learned well.
The new language pattern that developed in me through any challenge from such crisis is this:  Lord, show me what I need to know and please have mercy so that I understand what it is you want to spill out of me as I am shaken.  Remembering that being shaken is something that reveals the real "me" and draws my attention to what I like and don't like about myself and therefore I learn what elements of "me" need pruned.  I can surrender to that or resist it, but belonging to Him is a reminder that while the process isn't easy, the end result is beyond beautiful.

I was reminded of this the other day when Olivia sent me her first college essay to proof read before she sent it off.  I was at a seminar, and I was busy/distracted and yet, I knew I had to read it.  When my kids ask for something immediately, I am more often than not inclined to make them wait, but in this case, I made time…and I am so glad I did.
It hasn't been easy raising a girl.  I too often sense entitlement (which makes me seethe and to see it rear its ugly head in any of my own kids at ANY time nearly blows me away), but I constantly remind myself that this attitude isn't always gender specific but it seems to be generational/and certainly something that will be broken and decimated as life in the "real world" takes root. I have confidence in this as I have been in abased places in my life and yet clung to God's promises and lived out my faith with no explanation of His provisions.

What I know is that Danny and I focus on those attitudes and yet there are too many times when we do not see our fundamentals for living in place as we have taught them and it makes us crazy and it is times like those that we remind ourselves that our time and investment is nearing completion at some level and we remind ourselves that we have been given a "job" and ultimately it is God who is responsible for the outcome.  Isn't like life overall? Another way I have begun speaking it is this:  we do our best and trust God with the rest.

So when I read Olivia's essay titled per request "Define the good life in telling a story" I understood that while I may not often see that she understands life at a level of matter that shows depth and purpose of her own, I realized that (like me) she will take her own journey and end up seeking Him for greater impact and healing herself.  I will share her essay (typos and all) because it is a reflection of pain becoming purpose which is why I write, why I share my heart, and why I know there is more to any battle than what meets the eye…and that purpose is beyond our own understanding as our own lives.  All challenge, when interpreted as being sifted from the hand of God Himself, is meant to encourage others as well.  As I see her in her raw emotion that lives in her heart, I am reminded that in due time she will seek Him at a deeper level.  She will ask Him for deeper understanding and He will be there…just like He is for all of us who ask for Him and believe Him to be our "refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble."  ~Psalm 46-1

After I read her essay I told her that she reminded me of me…having a difficult time living out what is in the heart because the pain is greater than what is known or understood.  She didn't comment.  It didn't matter.  What does matter is that God is in her…He loves her and He has clearly called her according to His purpose. ~Romans 8:28  THAT is why my life looks like it looks, why my purpose is what it is and why my hope proves what it proves.  I am blessed to be the vehicle God has used to allow this human out of herself.  Some ways of understanding His ways will never be understood.  "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. ~Isaiah 55:8


And while learning why/when and how we need to find His ways is not often something we seek without cause, seeing Him to be who He is, becomes magical in our desire to escape that pain/those challenges and we settle in to trusting Him.  There are times when we want our voice to be heard, but we find in this world of ours that our unheard voice becomes an opportunity for Him to do what seems unlikely or impossible.  I know that is one place I prefer to seek above any other.  If the end of the story is nearly anything as dramatic as the beginning, I will watch in eager expectation, wait with an open heart and trust with abundant faith.

We may never understand WHY but we can always learn more about WHO and given Who it is He is, there really isn't much else that matters.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” ~Matthew 11:28-30



Olivia's First College Essay:

In today’s society, the good life takes many forms depending upon one’s personal views of the world. How people view the world relates to experiences that, in turn, define who we are. Day by day our stories are written and personal experiences change who we become. Adversity takes hold in our lives, sometimes leaving scars, but it is that adversity that can have a powerful affect on someone. At the age of seven, I became a victim of the world and its harsh reality. That day, murder suicide took both my parents and my simple life took a turn when my brother and I were taken in by another family.
Adversity, in every form, can take part in creating a person’s character while developing their diverse views of the world. Adversity allows people to establish personal values and they come to find what is important and necessary for their own true happiness. Adversity has vested a longing for success in my future and a desire to find the “good life.” The good life is a different combination of a character’s personal values and what they find to be important to them. For many, the good life consists of money and luxuries but fails to include healthy relationships and fulfilling impression that unification brings. Adversity and life experiences have changed how I view the good life to be. In my new home, developing new relationships was not easy, but as a child I longed for those deep, unified bonds I felt was missing. My personal definition of the good life includes, like any other, having luxuries and those components that keep us satisfied. These could include a home, a car, and that “stuff” we all seem to need. My vision of the good life entails a stable family with children. These materialistic factors cannot be forgotten; as we are human, but I believe relationships are the most important founding detail.

During my high school summers, I have had the opportunity to travel to Jamaica to do service work at a deaf school in a very small, poor town. While there, I met many of the children that lived with their families at the school and many of the families in the surrounding community. Spending a week with these families allowed to me see that they all shared a common principle. They took extreme care of their loved ones; watching over them and providing them with care. The community as a whole was deeply united. What I saw was the concerning care for each and every individual. Strong relationships were the building blocks for happiness in these people. They did not have money, but they each expressed contagious joy and glowing happiness. My life experiences have encouraged me to evaluate my beliefs. Therefore, refining my core values; leading me to believe that the good life consists of a steady balance. A steady balance between material things and relationships that bring everlasting joy. 

What Being A Mother Means To Me

When girls are young they have dreams, expectations, fantasies, and ultimately delusions about being a mother.  They envision a reality that seldom exists outside of their mind's eye.  Typically what we hope will manifest in our lives becomes a driving force for our heart's desires.  If we choose wisely, I believe we can all find our utopia of satisfaction and fulfillment for what connects the dots within each of us.

Along the way however, we are not always the ones choosing.  We are the recipients of the choices of others as well as our own.  Those are our defining moments, the cultivator of our character and out of the mouth our hearts often speak, but occasionally we catch glimpses of what we are ill-equipped to handle and have to swallow hard in times where the injustices of life speak for us.

It is not a secret that my own journey has made certain life altering choices for me.  Of course I have made choices within that have shaken me in every way and while I have held my head high for what has mattered most I have also hung my head shamefully as I have struggled to become whole within it all.

Along the way, I have not rested, but have always trusted that God would produce a more improved version of His original intent for me that was stolen as a result of many choices in the lives of others and how those affected me.  The wounds of my own childhood hindered the call upon my life in some ways, but in others created the perfect palate for a more complete me.  I never claimed to have the most important component in excess: Love, but I definitely possess a wounded heart which desires more of it…I just have had trouble learning how to receive it as well as give it and I know this is because of the lack of it in my own life…again, due to the choices of others.

For all of us,  those battles exist.  Some manifest quietly, without a strong force behind it to reveal, but for others, the resistance and challenge is so great, that we must confront it for a greater level of living and accomplishing what comforts our soul.  While the greater theme has moved me forward, the resistance within it seemed to become a trap for my own struggle.  I could easily find excuses for holding on to my pain within it and not releasing the unending burdens with a finality that would truly set my heart free.  I knew my heart wanted a choice that my head struggled to receive.  The theme that has released me to the next level of living in my life has been surrender.  And the way that I can describe what that means for me is this:  when the pain of holding on is greater than letting go…release it…whatever it is…and trust God with the rest.

I finally had to confront that I couldn't do enough or be enough in order to accomplish enough of what I knew my heart desired.  I told God just that…through effort, words, apologies, conviction and confession.  I realized I did not possess enough.  It was at that point, when everything was in His hands, that I began to experience a new attitude and approach that wasn't being revealed through my wounds but through my words that were attached to my faith.  I finally made a mental shift that could remove my emotion from any equation but it takes a consciousness to do so…and I trusted God for that consciousness.

As a mother of 5 kids, ALL unique and challenged but equally troubled and talented I have begun to learn a new dance.  I finally feel as if I am becoming the emotional support for the leaders that are within each of them.  I have learned that letting go of injustice is where true tolerance and joy lives.  Appreciating the privilege of being trusted to be a mother of 5 under such circumstances has finally released in me a new hope…one that could not have been accomplished any other way…and because of that I can look to "Jesus, the author and finisher of (my) faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame…." Hebrews 12:2

Regardless of what we confront as Christians, and we each do confront challenges that we didn't expect or even see coming, we can either recoil or stand firm in our faith and press God to show up for us in ways that can present an honorable gift to the challenge for which we are called and not remain in the damaged state as we have an opportunity to emerge into the butterfly that has been living in its restrictive cocoon.  While the latter often causes dissection of our very heart, it produces a gift not just to ourselves but also to those we desire to impact the most.

This is what being a mother has taught me.  
“When you see people only as personalities, rather than soul s with life missions to fulfill, you forever limit the growth and possibilities of what God has in store for another person.” ~Shannon Alder

“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.
Delicious Ambiguity.”  ~Gilda Radner

PS.  I had, since I was a little girl, said I would  have 5 children.  I never expected to actually have that many when I didn't have my first until the age of 30…and when my family became one with 5 children, I quickly reminded myself of my heart's desire and once again, the reminder that what God plants He also waters :)

When Are We Faithful?

It is time, one week after the scariest experience of my life as a parent…and it didn't take long to know that writing through yet another challenge reminds me of just how much God surrounds us when we are hurting.  We are settling in to a temporary reality that is littered with disappointment and gratitude and setbacks and hope.  And let's not forget pain…at every level.  It is hard to watch but being mindful of being able to view from a front row with a future in tact means more than the circumstances ever could.  I am beginning to see that theme of juxtaposition in the life we live.

Each child takes a journey and as much as we lead it, we really have very little control over it.  I believe  the greatest value we offer as parents is pointing our children to The One who created their lives for a purpose beyond their understanding but not beyond their desires.

Izik is a child much like my husband with a compassionate heart that is filled with determination but also with a huge emphasis on enjoyment that fills his inner self and which drives him toward his goals which have to be focused upon his loves and the investment he makes into those things that drive him.
Knowing that this child is incapable of anything but those innate understandings (especially as I have watched closely my husband's journey), reminds me that all the pieces are being assembled for his own story.  A story…a test…a testimony.  We all have to consider those stories.  It creates our character and more often remakes it.  We learn that whatever we hoped for or expected is ok to be delayed or possibly even destroyed at times so that it can be rebuilt and reconstructed into a greater story.  With the right attitude and fortitude, we can find our greatest victories and successes come out of the adversities of our lives.

When Izik hit the tree at 40 mph on his skis, he knew that Jesus was who he needed to cry out to as he was spitting up blood and unable to breathe, thinking he may die.  And that is exactly what he did…he asked God to be with him…he used it as an opportunity to seal the deal with Jesus.  How comforting to know that my God is his God and one of my greatest burdens for him lifted…at least the one that matters more than any other…his soul's eternal destination.

Walking out the path that is laid, whether due to our own choices or the choices others make for us, is not usually one we care to take a second time nor would we ever choose it, but our future becomes directly patterned as a result.

Watching a child suffer is beyond my desire, but watching a child grow in his own perfect path to bring about God's purpose and his own peace within it is unmatchable to any other experience I can have as a parent.  There is no hope without suffering and there is no victory without defeat.  I always say I am raising leaders…now I believe I will say I am raising champions.  According to Mike Thompson, CEO of SVI (an organizational development company) 10 differences are suggested between the two.  After realizing those differences, I realize how much more appropriate my parenting goals are with the term champion:

 1. Champions are personally grounded through values; Leaders can be situational.
 2. Champions influence through love; Leaders can influence through power.
 3. Champions pursue mutual value; Leaders can be self-serving.
 4. Champions drive transformation; Leaders drive transaction.
 5. Champions embrace the mission; Leaders embrace the role.
 6. Champions are operational and visionary; Leaders are one or the other.
 7. Champions aren't defined by circumstance: Leaders are limited by circumstance.
 8. Champions are emotional; Leaders are guarded.
 9. Champions are curious system thinkers; Leaders can be linear thinkers.
10.Champions are fully present in every moment; Leaders can be consummate multi-taskers.

When God says:
I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, ~Isaiah 62:6

BELIEVE HIM!!!

While his fragile body endured the impact and pain of the injury, it is now enduring the pain of restoration.  Each day has brought about a reminder of just how much God really did protect him.  While his injuries are not visible they are real just the same.  As I was shown the trees…only 2 side by side…in a barren space, I think of God in the expanse of our lives…and realize once again it is just us and Him, and while we have others who we walk with, we really only have Him who we can trust to protect us and lead us and redeem us.  It always happens for a purpose...His purpose.  I have never taken that trust lightly and will never dismiss its significance.  He saved my son in more ways than one…and He has purpose within it that we will both learn even as he heals.  Embracing the difficulties allows room for the victories with the proper attitude to receive them.

I love seeing winners…but the winners that matter the most are the ones who win in life and become victorious as they overcome their obstacles, oftentimes those obstacles are between their ears as they flush out the defeat and make room for the champion that lives inside each of us.  With God on our side, we win every time.



I could speak this over and over in my life and I know if those of us who trust Him, truly trust Him…we could believe there is so much behind the scenes we do not know or understand, but it brings about a most beautifully written story of hope and redemption….
~Psalm 124:  “If the Lord had not been on our side—let Israel say—if the Lord had not been on our side when men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive; the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away. Praise be to the Lord, who has not let us be torn by their teeth. We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler’s snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

I know there will never be a day when I do not not take the time to think upon challenges as well as blessings in life.  As I grow up, I realize much of my growth was stunted by fear and circumstances that I could not process congruently from heart to head.  There are seasons for growth  that usually accompany seasons for change and sometimes when we are adjusting to the changes we often disconnect from the significance of the growth.  It isn't until we are in a position to reflect that we can coordinate the two and reconcile the significance.

I joined my boys in Copper Mountain CO this Thanksgiving as they are all training at a camp that I "MISTAKENLY" put Daniel on a plane ALONE to come to when he was just 12 years old.  I remember being sent a link from one of the mother's on Daniel's ski team and I must have clicked on a link connected to that site and registered him for the "wrong" one…but I didn't find this out until Daniel was on his way and he called me from a layover and told me he wasn't sure where he was going, but all of his teammates were going to a different camp.  A flash of panic passed over me and then I quickly told him apparently God had another plan for him.  I had spoken to the coordinator of the family run camp who had made quite a name for themselves many years ago with a story to match.  They had come here from Czechoslovakia and in order to make a living they ski raced.  I have heard that they lived in their van when they first began pursuing their dreams.  They worked extremely hard and won races and began to build their new roots and profession in America.  The matriarch of the family cooks home cooked meals for the kids during the camps and they are strict and unified and responsible for their racers.  The patriarch of this family is one of Izik's favorite people on the planet and all of their children teach during the camps…they are all decorated ski racers and many of them world cup athletes.  It is no wonder I was drawn to this family as I am always drawn to those who had to face the odds and overcome triumphantly and for a greater purpose.

Within a few years Izik began joining Daniel and traveling across the country and now living in the west, Danny drove the boys here (including Simon who is attending his first camp and loving it) and my husband is hooked himself on the training (and participating each and every day ;), the family and the opportunity that our kids have pursuing their interests as they are developing far more than racing skills within this experience each and every time.

When I pulled in to this place many visions and thoughts I have had over the past few years crystallized for me and I was overwhelmed with gratitude for God's work behind the scenes.  Maybe it hit me because of the sacrifices we had to make to enable it, perhaps it was because I realized how God is always at work and we often cannot fully comprehend just what his provisions produce, or it is even possible that it is being in touch with the struggles of life, heart's desires, disappointments and victories and everything in between but not ONE thing in the life of one who trusts in Him is wasted or not counted within His heart and when the manifestation of that is realized, the depth of gratitude is overwhelming.  

I have a saying:  God does not waste our pain.  While our journeys often cause such confusion, contemplation and sometimes even contempt, our KNOWING of our God's character even in our UNKNOWING of the outcome, can comfort us as He loves us and sees us in our sadness, He travels with us through our darkness and He shines on us as he reestablishes us within our purpose.  

I couldn't sit here this morning, surrounded by the majestic mountains, and not be in awe of such a God.  Sometime perspective is the most difficult virtue to embrace in the midst of our adversity but the reflective heart is born just there.  When we embrace the emotion of our difficulties and bring them captive to our Lord, ask for Him to illuminate their purpose and significance, we WILL reap their reassembled creation by the Maker's hand.  

May this Thanksgiving release a beauty from your ashes that you may never have considered had you not taken the time to reflect and absorb our God's love for His children.

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.   

~1 Thessalonians 5:18